Damper



June 1, 1937. J M'QRAN 2,082,298

DAMPER Filed D80. 17, 1935 JAM ES T. MORAN Patented June 1, 1937 UNITED STATES gPATE-NT orriee 1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in dampers generally and more particularly to a type thereof for use in chimney flues and the like.

The object of the invention is to provide a damper for effectively regulating the draft in open fireplaces and grates and thereby control combustion of the fuel, preventing smoking and throwing off of gas, and cause the giving out 10 into a room of an appreciatably greater heat than is usual in heating means of this kind.

Another object of the invention has to do with providing a damper of this class and which:

is extremely simple in design, highly eflicient in operation, comparatively cheap to manufacture and install, and so constructed that it can be readily installed in old and new fireplace fiues with substantially equal facility and ease.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a damper which is made adjustable for effective installation in the fiues of ready-built fireplaces of varying size.

With the foregoing and other objects of equal importance, the invention resides in the certain 25 new and useful combination, construction and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, set forth in the appended claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

30 Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical section thru a fireplace and its chimney flue, and showing a preferred installation of the improved damper in the flue throat, the damper being shown partly in cross-section; v

35 Figure 2 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 and showing the damper in plan and in its flue throat closing position;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the damper 40 per se with parts of its body or wall broken away to show the frame arms upon which the body or wall is secured;

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken on the line Figure '7 is a fragmentary perspective view of an end portion of the damper and showing a modified form of connection between the damper and its operating means.

55 Referring to the drawing wherein like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in the several views, the embodiment of the invention, as is exemplified therein, is comprised generally in a frame to be pivotally mounted within the throat opening of the 5 chimney flue of an open fireplace or the like;

a heat resistant covering secured on the frame and forming the body or wall thereof; and operating means leading from the frame to a point adjacent the front of the fireplace for swinging the damper on its pivotal support to and from flue throat closing position.

As shown in Figures 1 to 6 inclusive, the frame is made from a length of iron rod stock, preferable circular in cross-section, to form a shaft It and in lengths of similar stock, preferably square in cross-section, to form arms H at an angle to the shaft and suitably joined thereto, one spaced inwardly from each of the opposite ends of the latter and at an equal distance therefrom.

The body or wall I2 is made from sheet metal, of a comparatively-heavy gauge, and is secured to one side of the arms H by means of bolts or the like I3. The length of this body or wall I2 is such that its ends terminate inwardly of the end of shaft II! in order that equal portions of the latter project beyond the body or wall 'to pivotally engage in openings formed in opposite walls of a flue, when the damper is operatively emplaced.

In use, the damper is to be mounted transversely within the throat of a flue by having the opposite ends of the frame shaft Hi inserted into holes drilled in complemental side walls of the flue throat, and the depth of engagement of both of the shaft ends is equalized by stoppins l4 being secured in openings l5 which pass diametrically thru the shaft H0 at equal distances outwardly from arms II. By means of these stop-pins M, the damper will be properly positioned within the flue throat for its efficient operation therein. In order to facilitate installation of the damper and make it adjustable to the size of the flue throat, the frame shaft i0 is preferably made in two sections, with the adjacent ends thereof overlapping and flattened as at to. These flattened portions it are longitudinally slotted, as at H, and are adjustably secured together by means of bolts or like [8.

When the shaft I 0, and consequently the frame in its entirety, is thus made, in two sections, the covering 12, forming the body or wall of the damper, is likewise made in two sections,

with the outer end of each section secured to an arm I I as before stated, and its inner ends disposed in overlapping relation, so that, when the bolts I8 are loosened and the shaft II] is lengthened or shortened, the length of the body or wall will be varied accordingly.

To operate the damper as shown in Figures 1 to 6, a length of metal rod I9 is provided and has one end angled, as at 20, for retained sliding engagement with a slot 2| formed lengthwise in one of the arms II and its other end provided with a somewhat similar angled portion to form a hand-grip 22. With the damper emplaced within the flue throat, the inner end portion of the rod I9 can be suitably bent relative to its point of connection with the slot H in the respective arm II to allow its outer end portion to extend horizontally thru the fireplace opening toward the front of the latter for the disposition of the hand grip 22 in convenient position for the manipulation of the rod and damper.

Secured in a side wall of the fireplace are one or more eye-bolts or like 23 which act as guides and supports for the operating rod IS. By bending the rod I9 between the innermost of the guides 23 and its point of connection with the frame arm II, it can be manipulated from the hand grip 22 correspondingly for the opening and closing movements of the damper, without interference from adjacent portions of the fireplace or flue throat.

In lieu ofthe slot connection'ZI in the arm II for the inner end of the operating rod !9, as shown in Figures 1 and 3 to 5, the angled end 20' of the rod I9 may be connected to the damper by being engaged in an eye formed in an extended end portion Ila of frame arm II as shown in Figure 7, if the flue throat construction demands or permits.

In mounting the damper within the flue throat, a slight clearance is left between the frame shaft I0 and the adjacent wall of the flue, so that soot and other waste accumulations, within thechimney flue above the damper, will drop thru the space for discharge into the fireplace or grate below. This will prevent any undue checking of desired free movements of the damper and particularly from closed to open position. Also the open communication thus provided, between the fireplace or grate and chimney flue above the damper, will allow the gas and smoke to seep, when the damper is disposed in closed position, upwardly of the chimney and thereby prevent its discharge into the room to be heated.

Otherwise, the damper is shaped and sized to closely fit the walls of the flue but with sufficient clearance therebetween to facilitate the free and unobstructed opening and closing movements of the damper.

In a fireplace and flue throat construction as shown, the frame arms II and II will preferably be upwardly bowed or curved, in order to closely abut the opposed flue wall when moved to open position and thereby give maximum opening to the flue, when necessary and desired.

In making up the adjustable form of damper,

the sheet metal covering or sections thereof,

forming the body or wall I2, may be left oversized and thereafter have the edges of same trimmed to fit within a given size of flue or flue throat.

Without further description, it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will, of course, be understood that changes in form, proportion, and minor details of construction and arrangement may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention, or its scope as claimed.

I claim:

A damper for open fireplace flues and the like, comprising a shaft formed of relatively adjustable sections, an arm extending angularly from each shaft section adjacent the outer end thereof, a covering section of a fire resistant sheet material secured at one edge to each shaft sec tion and adjacent another edge to the arm carried by the shaft section, said sheet material sections over-lapping at adjacent ends thereof, the ends of said shaft projecting beyond the outer ends of said covering for engagement in holes formed in opposed walls of a flue to pivotally support the damper in place, and means extending from one of said arms for actuating the damper to control the draft thru the flue.

JAMES T. MORAN. 

